Different imaging modalities may be used in the process of diagnosing suspected breast cancer patients. For example, breast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is well established in diagnostic imaging. At the same time, digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is gaining increased attention. While both modalities generate 3D images of the breast, the information that is contained in the data is at least partly complementary. For example, calcifications are mainly visible in DBT, whereas dynamic contrast-enhanced MR is able to highlight mass-like lesions by detecting increased signal intensity caused by tumor vascularization.
US 2003/0194050 A1 discloses a multi-modality imaging system which combines an X-ray tomosynthesis sub-system and a nuclear medicine imaging sub-system. Both sub-systems are operated while the breasts are compressed by a means for compressing a patient's breast. In this way, the images obtained from X-ray tomosynthesis and nuclear medicine mammography can be combined.
The paper by J. Chung et al., entitled “Modelling Mammographic Compression of the Breast”, MICCAI 2008, Part II, LNCS 5242, pp. 758-565, 2008, Springer-Verlag Berlin, hereinafter referred to as Chung, discloses a biomechanical model of the breast so as to simulate compression during mammographic imaging. The model provides a multi-modality imaging registration tool to help identify potential tumors observed between mammograms and MRI or ultrasound. The model requires positions of the compression paddles before and after compression to simulate the deformation by using contact mechanics.